What’s the show about?A British family. The daughter goes to Thailand on her gap year and comes back married to a hippy American, who I play – a faux-Zen moron who moves in with the family.Is he based on anyone you know?I didn’t write it but I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and went to college at UC Santa Cruz, which has quite ‘loving vibes’. I’ve seen my share of guys who dress and act this way, so it’s an amalgamation.Did you go travelling as a student?I didn’t go as far as Thailand. I’d go on hikes and camping. I was a summer camp counsellor for a bunch of years. This guy’s in search of the higher meaning of the universe – I was just out to get some vitamin D.What are the highs and lows of being a camp counsellor?You’d think there was a lot of responsibility but it was mellow. You just make sure the kids turn up to eat when it’s time.Why did you do this show when you’re busy doing films?First off, they asked. I’ve also been a fan of British comedy for a long time. My interest was piqued and I really liked the script – which is where all my decisions start, whether I like the material and the character. It seemed a good fit.What shows do you like?When I was very young I watched a lot of Monty Python and my family liked Fawlty Towers. The Office was huge in the US and I like the IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Brass Eye, The Mighty Boosh. It was less like: ‘Oh, I’m doing a British show,’ and more: ‘I’m going to do a show that sounds funny.’What are the differences between comedies in the US and Britain?The stereotype used to be that British comedy was very dry and US comedy was more overt. I loved The Inbetweeners movie but didn’t find it particularly dry. They’ve both influenced each other. What did you miss about the US when you were working here?Lower cell phone bills. The dollar-to-pound ratio was pretty brutal. I was in Britain for five weeks, which was great. I’d only been to London once before so it was good to spend time there.

I follow the Premier League football and was bummed it wasn’t in season. I saw the women’s Wimbledon final, which was cool. I couldn’t believe how good the curries were in London.How would you describe your band The Lonely Island?We’re a fake rap comedy music band. We’re responsible for a long-running series of short films on Saturday Night Live for seven seasons. We did more than 100 of those. We have two albums of our songs, featuring high-profile guests. Most people in Britain know us from YouTube.Aren’t all your songs on a genital theme?They’re not. The most popular ones are but, in our opinion, that’s more an indictment of the audience than the artists. We’re holding a mirror up to society and what they want to see – and what they want is songs about genitals. We’ve got plenty of songs that aren’t about our genitals.Did any of your celebrity collaborators surprise you?We did a song with Michael Bolton. We asked him if he’d be willing to do this song about how he’s obsessed with Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Caribbean. He really threw himself into it, which surprised us. He’s known as a serious guy but that’s what makes it fun for us to do collaborations – to see people in a way you haven’t seen them before.

We did a filthy rap with Natalie Portman where she played against type. A lot of people have been willing to be silly.Who else?Norah Jones. Even when Justin Timberlake did Dick In A Box it was a new place for where he wanted to go with his image – it freaked people out in a good way. If people need to be persuaded, we generally don’t do it.Who have you learnt the most from working with?In terms of how to record music, it’s Timberlake. Watching him work is incredible. He can sing as well as anyone on Earth and he’s a producer as well – he taught us how to record in new ways, which we’ve ripped off subsequently.What was your first stand-up gig like?It was when I was at NYU film school. I did it at an amateur night with a friend. We pounded some beers, got up and did pretty good – as far as I can remember.What else do you fancy doing with your career?I’ve met all the goals I had coming in – I wanted to be on SNL, wanted to make albums with my friends, I’ve got to make a movie with Adam Sandler. My other ambition is to keep working on things I think are funny.Cuckoo starts on BBC Three tonight at 10pm.